Hello everyone,
I had a great result with my first week, I lost 8lb.
My second week I have put on 2lb. (ouch)
One rainy day when I was desperate for bread I made some flax seed bread
with, egg, flaxmeal, almondmeal a little milk and salt. would have been the size of a closed fist (females). Do you think this could have been my mistake?
I would love your input before I think this is not working and give up...
Thanks Karen...

Karen! Don't give up yet, you did so well the first week! Maybe it would help to write down exactly what you are eating to discover why you gained. The bread should wait until Phase 2, but I don't think it would have caused you to gain. My guess is that it's just a temporary blimp caused by too much salt or water retention. Make sure you drink plenty of water, and you'll soon see those pounds disappear again. Good luck!

Karen!

I don't think the bread should have been a problem...all of those are OP foods, but perhaps the calories in all that flaxseed and almondmeal had an effect? Still, I doubt it was 2 pounds worth.

Is it TOM (Time Of the Month)? That usually causes me to gain a bit, but it falls off after. Cottage could be right about water gain...on the other hand, you may have lost more water last week than your body really wanted to give up and you've gotten it back now. That's not worth worrying over...the pounds will start coming off more and more as you move into Phase 2.

Do post a menu for us so we can help you figure out if something is sneaking into your diet, like too many nuts, that could cause you to gain. Okay?

Most of all, don't worry, okay? You'll get rid of those pesky pounds before you know it!

Please don't give up. Remember this is a lifetime committment and you will gain sometimes. 6 pounds is great during phase 1. Often just adding extra vegetables and water will really help.

Thanks so much for your advice and support ,you are all wonderful.
Thankyou Karen...

Karen, the other chicks have addressed your concern so I'll just add my and wish you good morning!

This is sometimes so frustrating and misleading, but most people don't lose weight (or gain it, even) in a linear pattern, but a jagged one.

Basically, I've come to the conclusion that 1 week tells you very little about how you're doing. Incidentals, like TOM, and sodium water weight retention, and probably a billion other factors can mess with your results to confuse you (and drive you a little crazy if you let it). It's sometimes hard to do, but as long as your plan seems reasonable to you, give it a try for at least 3 - 4 weeks before you make any decisions.

I know this seems like "wasting" time, especially if you only maintain, or worse gain, but otherwise you start second-guessing every move you make when you're doing fine, your body just hasn't caught up yet.

One thing that really helps me, even though on SB you're not supposed to have to watch calories, is to keep a food journal, and in one form or another an approximate calorie count. I am almost literally, a carbohydrate addict, and can overdo even whole grain carbs; so while I follow SB principles, I am using an exchange based food plan to do so.

For me, it will probably have to be a long-term or permanent solution, but for you, it may just give you a little reassurance until you start to see the pattern your body follows.

I'm on week 2 of Phase I and am having a similar problem. I've not gained, but I am stuck. I lost 7 pounds in week I and now I'm back to fighting for each and every pound. I put my cals in/out into a counter website and found that I'd dipped below 1200 a day and my body was going into starvation mode. (Pre-SBD, a LOT of my daily cals came from carbs so this is a big change for me.) What can I eat more of in Phase I to help up my calories?

Hey, Marine Princess! Very good call putting your cals in. Going below 1200 not only stops your weight loss, but it can cause tons of problems for you now and later on. You want to stop it right now and make sure you don't end up there again.

Here are some ways to add calories, but the best thing would be if you'd post a sample daily menu so we can all look it over and make more specific suggestions. Okay?

• Add more dairy...not only does it help you feel less 'flu-ish' during P1, but some studies have shown that three servings of milk or yogurt a day can help you lose weight. Add some lowfat dairy and you'll up your calories a bit.
• Add more veggies, cooked in healthy oils. Remember, this is a GOOD fat diet. Those good fats can help your heart and cholesterol, so make sure they're in there. Fats have lots of calories, so that should help too.
• Are you getting enough protein? Protein has lots of calories and helps you feel full. It also helps reduce cravings by keeping your blood sugar more stable. Most importantly for weight loss, you need protein to help you build muscle. Muscle actually burns calories even when you sleep while fat doesn't.
• Are you eating beans? They have lots of protein and fiber and decent amounts of calories. Add some low-fat cheese to refried beans (and some salsa too, if you like) for a fast and comforting snack.
• Are you eating your daily serving of nuts? Nuts have tons of calories but also have protein, fiber, and wonderful healthy oils. You can have 15 walnuts, almonds, or cashews, 20 peanuts, 30 pistachios, or 2 Tbsp of natural peanut butter a day.

Laurie, thanks for the tips. I haven't been eating my beans. I'll start incorporating them today. Here's a sample menu that you asked for. Thank you so much for the help!

Breakfast - 3 Egg omelet with 2 slices of Kraft 2% American cheese and Hormel bacon pieces. 1 cup of milk.
Lunch - Canned tuna with 1/2 T. of mayonnaise. 1 serving of Kraft 2% cheddar cheese. 1 can of Campbell's tomato juice.
Snack - 15 Cashews
Dinner - SBD Caprese Style Chicken w/ Broccoli

All of this adds up to only 1,125. Some days I only get about 900.

I usually have my glass of milk all at breakfast, or I'll have 1/2 at breakfast and 1/2 at dinner. Sometimes I have a serving of Crystal Light with lunch, but usually I just drink water all day.

I usually have a serving of sugar-free Jello with a serving of the SBD approved Cool Whip for dessert in the evening.

Again, thanks for your help!

Karen here again;
My cals average between 1000 up to 1300, sometimes a bit more.
B. I have a 2 egg omlet with 30g bacon(no fat).
S. 30g of vintage cheese(not low fat)wrapped in lettuce.
L. Chicken or Tuna or cheese lettuce & tomatoe+ mayo.
S. Protein of some kind. Or almonds or peanut butter.
D. Protein and beans or broccoli.
I also have 3cups of tea & 2 cups of coffee with no fat milk & splenda..
And lots of water.
I am 45 and am in early menopause after having all my girly bits taken out last year due to a 12kg tumor, so I cant even blame weigh gain on TOM, even though I still swear I get the mood cycle....
I shouldnt complain as I love this no craving, just want to make sure im doing SB right...
All advice welcome.
This is really a incredible group, thank you all so much.
Fingers crossed Marine Princess, arnt we lucky to have such wonderful support.
Karen...

Karen,
Maybe try increasing the veggies. I don't know how much of the salad and broccoli you are eating, but we should be getting 4.5 cups of veggies a day. The calories are too low also, as Laurie mentioned to MarinePrincess. I eat 1300 - 1500/day, and I think most of the chicks here get more than that or don't count calories.
The only dairy I see is in the coffee, so you could add some yogurt or cottage cheese.
MarinePrincess,
You are getting some dairy, but your veggies look low too.
Hope this helps.

I HATED veggies when I started SBD. You can read about how I learned to love them, why veggies are important, how to introduce them to your diet, and how to choose nutritionally rich veggies (i.e. cabbage instead of iceberg lettuce) in these threads:

How to Eat More Veggies When You Hate Them All!!!

Best Veggies to Eat

Best Veggies to Eat (same first post, but different replies)

More on Veggies
For those of you that are eating almost entirely protein and fat, your body is missing the nutrients it needs! Make sure you are eating vegetables with every meal and at least one snack a day. Add a side of veggies cooked in healthy oils to your dinner, Marine Princess, and some veggies to your eggs in the morning. Put some celery or pickles or roasted red peppers in your tuna salad for lunch (and use a full T of mayo...it's a good fat and will up your calories). You definitely need to eat more...at anything under 1200 your body starts holding on to your fat in fear of you starving...at 900, your body is really going to freak out.

Snacks
On other fronts, it really is crucial to eat every 3 or so hours both to maintain your blood sugar level (remember how Dr. A tells us that if we wait until we are incredibly hungry from low blood sugar, we'll find ourselves eating far more than we would if we'd just eat every 3 hours to maintain the blood sugar level?) AND to keep your metabolism 'revved' up. Marine Princess, you're only eating one snack? You definitely need your other one during the day, and need to add some protein to your snack at night (the Jell-O). That'll up your calories and help you lose.

Karen
Hey, Karen! You definitely need more calories, too. Try adding more veggies too...melt your cheese over broccoli for snack or try bell peppers with hummus (which has good fat--olive oil-- rather than the saturated fat in the cheese) or a veggie with Laughing Cow reduced fat cheese. For dinner, have the protein, the beans, AND the broccoli, and make sure you cook the broccoli in healthy oils (or drizzle it on after cooking) ].

Dairy=Weightloss?
Getting yogurt and milk in each day may also help you lose--the idea is to have three 8 oz servings. For some reason, neither a calcium supplement nor other forms of dairy (like cheese) have the same effect.

Thank you so much Laurie. I didn't realize until you pointed it out...I'm slacking! Hehe, thanks again.

Karen. I didn't mean to hijack your thread. I just thought since we're having the same issue, I'd throw my questions in there too and we'd both benefit. We can so do this!

I had to fight for it, but I'm down another pound since upping my cals. 3 to go for Sept. goal. How is your weightloss coming?

Laurie, You said to add beans to dinner. Is ranch style beans in the can sb? Also can chili with no meat? It is still to hot here to think about bean soup but I like both of these.